Strong believer
by Ponnchan
Summary: Cupcake wouldn't stop believing. And on the globe in the south pole head quarters, Cupcake's light never went out with the other quickly growing up kids. It was never replaced with younger children. It was steady, growing and glowing (This story focuses on Cupcake, but she wasn't in the character list so I put Jamie and Jack there since they're in here too. Woop! )
1. Cupcake believes

If one was to say that Cupcake had to struggle with herself growing up, that'd be quite the underestimation.

Being on the chubby side, with unruly, brown hair, a grumpy expression slammed in place and pink tutus combined with chunky boots, she was unusual to say the least.

She wasn't very talkative and to be honest, most of the kids her age were too scared to even try to approach her.

That, in turn, lead to nobody really recognizing the sweet, sensitive side of the being that was Cupcake.

They never really saw how her hazel eyes lit up when she woke up to a snowday, they never noticed the small, pink unicorn she kept on her bag and they never knew how bright and pure her laughter was.

Cupcake had in fact never harmed anyone, not on purpose.

She had pushed other kids over when playing or when some kid with an unhealthy amount of guts had teased her for being big and clumsy – nothing more then a normal kid her age. Just that Cupcake was a little larger, and the impact so much more dramatic.

No, Cupcake kept to herself, glaring daggers at anyone daring to come too close, if nothing else then just to stay safe, stay with her dreams and her thoughts and her endless supply of unicorn goods.

But that all changed when a certain Guardian used his frosty wind to chase away the early spring, bringing snow at the brink of Easter.

Cupcake was on her way home when a soft snowball hit her in the back of her head.

She turned around, annoyed that somebody had interrupted her thoughts, thinking somebody was playing a prank on her again when a surge of sudden joy and amusement raced trough her. She laughed at the frightened look on the boy's face and threw a fistful of snow his way to return the favour.

And suddenly it was all games. Really, it was all it took. From that day and forward, Jamie and the other kids brought her along to their daily adventures and mischief. Cupcake suddenly wasn't alone anymore.

When Pitch came, she wasn't scared. She had seen Jamie floating in the air, she had seen the tiny little Easter Bunny, Santa, and the huge hummingbird that exclaimed she was the tooth fairy.

Then, there was him. The young, lanky boy with the snowy hair and blue hoodie – a frosty, barefoot Peter Pan.

It was thanks to him she had gotten to be with the other kids, she would come to understand. It was thanks to him the Sandman had brought her unicorn dream to life, huge and shining before her and when she woke up in the morning she knew, she knew it couldn't have been a dream.

The next year, Cupcake waited with the others for Jack at the place for their first snowball fight, standing in the heavy, very first snowfall of the year until their mothers dragged them inside by the collars of their jackets. The next day, they searched the town for him.

They looked in the forest, in the park, by the lake, in the gardens, on the streets and from their windows. They called out, they turned stones, they played loudly in the snow to draw him out.

But he didn't come.

A week later, Cupcake sat with Jamie on a bench. Jamie kicked the snow in front of him and sighed. "I guess he isn't going to show up anytime soon, is he ?"

"Last year he didn't show until April, right ? Or.. More like we didn't know he was here until April. What if we can't see him anymore ?" Cupcake frowned at the thought of invisible Jack floating somewhere nearby.

"Nah, we still believe in him, so we should see him soon. Tooth left a penny and some floss for Sophie when she fell and knocked out a tooth the other day, so they're still around, I'm sure." Jamie hopped down from his seat. "See you tomorrow, Cupcake."  
Cupcake nodded and watched the white, snowless clouds float over her head.

Christmas came and passed, and Jamie brought news to Cupcake with gleaming eyes. Jack had come with Santa on Christmas night and left a frozen message on his window. Jamie proudly showed a photo of it, gleaming letters looking back at Cupcake from the glossy image.

"Merry Christmas, and happy snowdays. – JF."

Years passed like that, Jack only ever showing himself to Jamie, and as the others grew older, they stopped believing.

After a while, they all referred to that night when they beat Pitch back to the hole he came from, as a fantasy, a late night game when they were all tired and slightly delusional, just some kids fantasies playing tricks.

Jamie never stopped believing, of course not, he had proof, he had the real deal, and Cupcake _didn't want_ to stop believing.

Even when she put away her tutu for good, even when Jamie got bullied to the point where he changed school, leaving her alone again, even when her last tooth was gone and replaced with a coin for the last time, even when the guardians never, ever showed themselves to her again. She didn't want to stop believing in magic when she gave her stuffed unicorn toys to charity, she didn't want to stop believing in something bigger then just her life when she got her first part time job and she refused to let go of the precious pyjamas, sprinkled with Sandy's golden dreamsand.

Cupcake wouldn't stop believing. And on the globe in the south pole head quarters, Cupcake's light never went out with the other quickly growing up kids. It was never replaced with younger children, it was steady, growing and glowing.

* * *

"Hey North." The young looking guardian dangled his legs in the air as he watched the large globe displaying the believing kids of the earth.

"Iees ?"

"That light. Doesn't it kind of stand out to you ?"  
"Aaah. That is strong believer."  
"A what ?"

"That is .. Believer with persistent heart. Child growing up but still believing." North squinted at the spot on the map. "I think this child is almost adult." His thick, Russian accent softened before he let out a booming laughter. "There is still hope for us then." He patted the young, snowy man on his shoulder, almost causing him to fall off of the counter he was occupying before leaving him to correct some poor yeti on his work.

The guardian of everything cold tilted his head to the side and smiled. Things had been too quiet lately. It was time for a snowday.


	2. Charlie believes

Thank you for the reviews ! I didn't think anyone would read this, but I see now that I'm not the only one who loves Cupcake. Tank you thank you thank you !

* * *

"SNOW DAAY! Cupcake, Cupcake look, LOOOK !"

Cupcake grumbled and pulled the covers over her head, burying her face deep into her pillow. "Yes Charlie, I know, I saw the snow before I went to bed."  
"BUT THERE'S A WHOLE LOT OF IT CUPCAKE COME ON GET UP GET UP GET UP!"

Cupcake closed her eyes and counted to ten, still harbouring a weak hope that if she ignored him long and hard enough her baby cousin would go away to play by himself. Of course, this did not happen. When eight year old Charlie started bouncing up and down on Cupcake's still bed – his cousin still hiding in it - she sat up with a sudden growl, sending him giggling down on the floor. "Okay you little monster, go get dressed – I'm going to pay you back in snowballs for ruining my lazy morning." Charlie got to his feet and ran towards the guestroom, his laughter echoing back to her.

Cupcake grumbled something about kids these days and ruffled trough her hair. This was NOT what she had signed up for when she agreed to babysit Charlie over the weekend.

She opened her closet to get something warm to wear, and a fluffy, pink knitted sweater fell down on her face. Well, that would do. She proceeded to get dressed, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

She was seventeen now. Still taller then the others her age, but as she grew her frame had changed. She was now lean and strong looking. She still had a round face, but her features were more defined and no longer the ones of a child. Her hairdresser had found a shorter haircut that tamed her brown unruly mess into a more appealing mess of spikes and curls that had revealed themselves when cut short, twisting and twirling on her head. He eyes were the same hazel as ever, lined with brown lashes – short but thick.

Anyone who took the time to look for just a second could tell that Cupcake had grown up well, and grown up pretty. The face looking back at her was far more gentle, far more approachable then her grumpy childhood look. She smiled, sweeping her hair out of her eyes.

"Okay Charlie, I'm coming for you so I hope that you're prepared !" She grabbed her pink coat, wrapped a gray scarf around her neck and stuck her feet into a pair of chunky black boots. She saw a wisp of blonde hair and a blue jacket race out the door before she made it there.

"Hey, if you think you're going out without your beanie you are _wrong_ mister, I am _not_ going to answer for you if you catch a cold." She chased her whining cousin and tackled him down in the snow, forcing the beanie over his head. "We don't want Jack Frost nipping at your nose now, do we ?" She pinched his nose and then got up, running towards the park.

"Hey, hey, Cupcake, waaaiiiit !" Charlie stumbled to her feet, following her.

* * *

Cupcake held her breath, eyes closed, trying to keep her calm when her cousin squirmed and whined under the blankets. She had managed to make him do his homework, eat dinner and even take a bath ( he had bathed the whole bathroom along with himself, but none the less ) but making him sleep was an even MORE impossible task.

"I don't _want _to sleeep, I don't want a stupid bedtime story !" He pushed the book down on the floor, pouting and crossing his arms.

_What are you ? FOUR ?_ Cupcake took a deep breath , then she got an idea.

"If you're not nice, Santa won't come for you, you know !" she smiled, triumphant.

"Santa doesn't exist anyway !" Charlie poked her tongue at her.

Cupcake gaped at him. The kids at her school – sure – but eight year old Charlie ? Not believing in Santa ? Not on her watch.

"He does too !"

"Then how come _dad_ dresses up like Santa _every_ year ?" Charlie was still not convinced. Cupcake considered this for a moment before answering.

"Because I think Uncle John doesn't know that Santa can handle by himself. There _is_ quite a lot of kids out there." She sat down on the chair beside Charlie's bed.

"But do you want to know a secret ?" He nodded , slowly gaining interest.

"I've met Santa." Cupcake nodded to his surprised face. "Not the one in the mall, or Uncle John, I've met the real deal. He's called North, and he's from Russia !"

"No way !" Charlie sat up, knocking his toy Elephant of his bed without even realizing.

"Yes way ! You see, when I was your age, a little older maybe, there was this .. Thing, that took away all the children's nice dreams, replacing them with nightmares." She made her voice darker and put on her best evil smile. Charlie shrunk back a little. "He was called Pitch, and he had the Sandman trapped in a cloud of dark, fearsand ! Yes, the Sandman is real too. He's a cutie, and he's all golden and glowing – you should_ see_ the things he could do with his dreamsand ! Anyway, he was trapped in the darkness, not even his friends the Toothfairy, Santa, the Easter Bunny or even Jack Frost – creator of all the world's snow and cold weather – could help him. You see, the only thing that works on fearsand – is dreamsand. One could think that only the Sandman could create that, but we noticed that kids can too ! But to be able to see all of the magical wonders, you have to believe. Remember Jamie, my friend ? He showed us…"

Slowly, lit by the convincing and pure belief in Cupcakes eyes, Charlies light sparked and started to glow, right beside Cupcake's on North's globe. Like ripples on the water, the belief carried on trough her, onto Charlie.

A pale smile under a blue hood outside the little boy's window grew in the moonlight as the tale of Cupcake and her friend's adventure came to life in front of Charlie's bed.

"But Cupcake ..?" Charlie mumbled, fighting sleep.

"Yes ?"  
"What will happen if Pitch comes back ?" Cupcake smiled.

"That's why I need you to believe in the magic Charlie. So that you and I can help Santa and his friends to kick him right back where he came from."

"But .. What if the others doesn't believe ..?"

Cupcake looked at him from the door, her heart heavy with the same question.

"It's all right. There will always be me and Jamie. And now there's you, isn't there ?" Charlie nodded, a serious look on his face.

"Good. Night then Charlie, the Sandman should be here any minute." She closed the door and returned to her room.

* * *

_"There is still hope for us then."_ North's words echoed in his ears as he floated outside the girl's room. What was her name again ? Cupcake ? Weird.

He tilted his head to the side, listening to the wind racing by.

"Yeah. There is still hope." He reached out, touching a white finger to the cold glass, spreading frost flowers in a pattern across the surface, before knocking.

Once.

Twice.

* * *

Knock knock.

Cupcake stirred and sat up. "Charlie ?"

No, that had been the sound of hand to glass. Blinking, bemused, she got up to remove the curtain from the window.

The moon shone on the clean glass, the contrast of the letters in ice blooming stronger in the white light.

_'Thank you. – JF.'_


	3. Tea for two

Thanks a bunch for reading up until now ! This is my first fic, so I'm thrilled. Aaand I'm sorry for any grammar mistakes there might be !

Thank you for the sweet reviews, they make me so happy and I look forward to continuing the story every night haha. Here's chapter three, I hope you'll all enjoy it.

* * *

"I'm not joking ! I'll send you the photo as soon as I get internet up and running !" Cupcake laughed. "Oh, I miss you too Jamie. How's your meteorology studying coming along ? .. Uhu .. .. Well .. Oh I _bet_ it's stressful, I have it up to _here_ with school and my work at the bakery." Cupcake smacked her ancient computer on the top while listening to Jamie, passionately talking about his studies of the part of weather science that nobody could figure out. He was hoping that Jack could help him with that, but he hadn't seen his since he moved to his new school.

"Yes .. _Yes_ Jamie, I promise I will _try_ and tell him where you are if he comes to talk to me. I doubt it though. I don't think he remembers me, but I guess he .. I don't know, felt it when Charlie started believing or something." She scratched her neck and looked at her window. The letters were hardly there anymore at this point. A loud _beep_ brought her from her reflections. "_AHA_ ! I got connection, I'll send the photo right away before .. Aw no. Yeah.. I'll send it when I can, sorry. Okay. Bye." Cupcake leaned her forehead to the buzzing box of machinery. "I need a new computer." She sighed, turned it off and walked to her window, stretching out the soreness of seven hours hectic work. Pre Christmas was always insanely busy at the little pastry shop Cupcake did part time at.

She started to pull her black working clothes over her head, slipping into a pair of pyjamas shorts and a lilac sweater. She opened her window to shake out the smell of bread and flour from her shirt.

_Wa-whack. _

_Wa-whack. _

_Wa-whack. _

_**Smack.**_

"_OW!"_

"… What ?"

"That _hurt_, what are you.. Watch where you're flapping that around !" He floated up in the air, holding a handful of snow to his cheek.

"Wha-.. I .. Wai-.. ?! What are you .. What .." Cupcake stared at the frowning boy before stretching her hand outside the window.

"Touch my hand."

"What ?"

"I said, touch my hand. I'm not going to believe that you're actually here if you don't."  
The word 'not' and 'believe' in the same sentence made Jack flinch internally.

"Well _come on_ ? Or are you going to stay floating there all night ?" Taken back by Cupcake's demanding, and certain voice, Jack took her hand.

"You're really here !" She smiled. "_Wow_. Hi ! I .. I'm called Cupcake. I turned a Nightmare in to a gigantic Unicorn when we fought Pitch." She grinned.

Jack tried to recall it, but couldn't quite remember. "Huh. Sounds like an improvement." He smiled and came to sit in her windowsill.

"Yeah .. Well.. I was chubby, and I looked really angry with super messy hair.. Aaand a pink nightgown."

Jack's expression brightened. "Ah ! I know now, you're that grumpy kid Jamie though was going to kill him on that snowday ! You've grown awfully pretty, haven't you?"

Cupcake gaped. What. Killing Jamie ? She had expected him to maybe remember her, but calling her pretty ? And sitting in her room ? Talking to her ? WHAT ? Flabbergasted, she plopped down on a chair. "Wha-.. I .. Thankyou." She blurted.

"My name is Jack Frost." Jack grinned.

"I know. Jamie told me ! Oh, right ! He asked me to tell you, he's moved to the capitol to study Meteorology !"

"To study .. What ?"

"Um, it's like .. Weather science ! They use it to predict what weather we're going to have."

Jack frowned. "They can't do that. I come with snow whenever I feel like it." He almost looked a little hurt for a moment.

"No, noo, not like that, we know you do ! They uh, more like read the signs of the nature you know ? And .. Oh I'm no good at this." She scratched her nose, trying to think of a way to explain it all. "When you're on your way, signs of cold start showing. That's what they're trying to pick up so they can warn us, and we can turn on our heat and change the tires of out cars and … You get it."

Jack didn't look as if he got it one bit, but he nodded slowly.

"I think I get it.."

"Anyway. Jamie really misses you, and he needs your help with his studies so .. Do you think you can find him ?"

Jack scratched the back of his head. "I don't know. I mean. The capitol is packed with believing kids and for some reason, Jamie's light doesn't shine as bright as yours so I don't know .. I've never tried to look for somebody before."

"Light .. ? What do you mean light ?"

"Oh. Right, you wouldn't know. Um .. You know North, right ?" Cupcake nodded. "Well, North has his workshop, and it's like a headquarter too, for me and the other Guardians, and .."

"Wait." Cupcake held her hands up. "Sorry. Guardians ?"

"Yeah. Me, Tooth, Bunny, North and Sandy."

The tooth fairy, the Easter bunny, Santa and the Sandman. Cupcake counted them all in her head, nodding.

"We do this thing, you know, like with Pitch. We protect the kids when anything threats their happiness."

"Oh, I get it, like a .. ! Sorry." Cupcake covered her mouth with her hands and Jack laughed.

"It's okay ! Anyway, it's kind of like a Guardian headquarters. And there's this globe, this replica of the earth. And it's filled with tiny lights, all over it. Every light, is a kid that believes. Without them, we pretty much go away. And yours .. It's kind of different. It's hard to explain, it's like .. Sharper. And bigger ! North called you a strong believer, since you believe even though you're growing up. But not even Jamie's shines like yours do, I completely lost him when he moved.. So I got kind of curious .. And I came here." He muttered the last part, shrugging.

"Oh .. That's .. Oh. I see. I guess." Cupcake frowned. That was just weird. Jamie's light should be shining brighter then anyone else's, shouldn't it ? Or had all of that science taken it's toll to his faith ? It couldn't be, could it ?

A loud sneeze working it's way up trough her interrupted her thinking and she shivered. "Um .. Would you like some tea ? Iced, maybe ? It's kind of cold, so could you come in and close the window ?"

"Oh ! Oh yeah, sorry I .. Sure. Tea. Great." Jack hopped down from the window sill and closed the window behind him. He hadn't had tea or the likes ever before. He'd had some food with the other guardians, like ginger bread cookies or eggs but never tea, not even with Jamie. He didn't really know where to sit or what to do with himself.

"Here, have a seat and I'll be right back !" Cupcake moved her unicorn plush from an armchair and hurried down to the kitchen.

_I have Jack Frost **in my room**._

_I have **Jack Frost** in my room._

_IhaveJackfrostinmyroom._

_Okay._


	4. Gingerbread Snowbombs

I'm so. SO. so very sorry about leaving you hanging like that. I just LOST this story completely, all my motivation drained and I just bleh, I couldn't come up with anything new. This might not be all that good, but I will be damned if don't at the very least try my best to finish this.

* * *

"Hey." A voice next to her ear had Cupcake squeak and drop her keys onto the sidewalk.  
"Jack?!" She whipped around and found herself barely an inch from the cold boy's face. Flustered she leaned back to put some space in between them and bumped the back of her head against the bakery shop door.  
"Owowow .. Hi Jack."  
"Sorry, I didn't mean for you to hit your head.." Jack smiled and picked up her keys, handing them back to her.  
"But scaring me was fully intentional, huh?" Cupcake rolled her eyes and turned back to the door, unlocking it and stepping inside.  
"Yep." Jack grinned and floated in behind her.  
"Woow, so this is were you work?"  
"Yeah.." Cupcake freed herself from hat, scarf, jacket, mittens and sweater before retrieving her apron and putting her bangs up with a pink pin.  
It was 5 am and she was already running late with her Christmas specialties. She rummaged trough the fridge for the frozen topping for her Gingerbread Snowbombs, watching Jack float around in and out of the kitchen and shop area from the corner of her eye.

Ever since that night when she gave him tea and had him over pretty much the whole night, marvelling over the stories he shared and the strange situation of having an ancient teen Guardian perched on her windowsill, he'd been around her pretty much whenever he had the time.  
He would make the tea in her cup freeze and start dancing in the shape of an unicorn, he'd play tricks on Charlie whenever his mother was in the hospital and Cupcake found herself in charge of him, he'd pore over her cell phone for HOURS while she worked on some recipe and "help" her try out every single thing she cooked. (Really, he was like a dog, whenever she stepped into the kitchen she'd feel a drop in temperature and hear a knock on the window, it was amazing how he always seemed to know whenever she was about to cook.)  
The situation was crazy, unbelievable and yet so very natural.  
Jack didn't have many friends beside the other Guardians, and they were all very, very busy beings, having Easter, Christmas, teeth and dreams on their hands.  
Jack dealt with the snow and cold, of course, but it was something he did mostly because it was fun and not because he had to. Besides, if he didn't feel up for it he could just blow trough his fingers and send a cloud racing to where snow was to be delivered. Cupcake had long realized that if not lonely, at least he was bored out of his skull with the life he lead, and he desperately wanted new things to happen around him. Cupcake had become his portal into a world where he was always present but never seen, and around her he could ask, engage and talk as much as he wanted to without being let down – because she would always reply.  
She could hear and notice him, notice when his blue eyes were troubled or curious. She could **see** him. And she wasn't a child that needed reassurance or saving.  
She was just Cupcake. She was just there. So bizarre as the situation was, she understood how it came to be.  
"That's weird…"  
"What's weird?" Jack popped his head trough the door that lead into the kitchen.  
"The frozen frosting, Emma said she would make it and…" Her eyes fell on a huge, covered mixing bowl under the counter and she groaned. "Just MAKING it isn't enough Emma, it's supposed to be FROZEN, you can't just ..!" She threw her hands up, cursing over her scatterbrain boss wouldn't help now, she wasn't even here to listen.  
"Now what do I do, it's never going to freeze over in time for the customers to arrive, and it's two days to Christmas, they WILL be wanting them and .." Her eyes fell on Jack, sailing out into the shop area again, and she almost laughed out loud.  
"Jack. I could use some ice over here."  
"Did I hear you say ice?" Jack landed next to her, leaning against the counter, a flirty look on his face.  
"Yes, ice, Casanova. She pointed to the huge bowl. I need this to freeze over."  
"Leave it to me." Jack blew at the tip of his finger and a trail of ice blew trough the air towards smooth surface of the sweet, white goo.  
"Thanks." She retrieved a scope and a ginger bread muffin ball, cut it in half, made a hole in the middle and filled it with a frosty, creamy lump of heavenly sweetness before putting the other half back on and dipping the overflowing frosting in cinnamon sugar before handing it to Jack.  
"You're _**welcome. **_I should help you out here more often." He accepted it with big eyes and a childishly happy smile, so out of place in combination with his deep voice and yet so utterly and entirely him.  
Cupcake dropped her frosting scope with a loud clatter and dove under the counter to retrieve it and cool her warm cheeks.  
Come on, magical creature, friend and out of reach as he was, he was so cute.  
Still on all fours, she looked up, only to find him floating with his head ever so close to hers.  
"SHI-.. Would you **stop** that?!"  
Jack grinned and floated up on his back, hanging his head back and looking at an upside down, laughing Cupcake.  
"Nah." He took a big bite out of his treat and winked and her before floating out of sight again.  
"Oh you ..You.. !" Cupcake poked her tongue out at him, despite knowing he couldn't see her before turning to the stacks of Gingerbread bombs waiting to be prepped.  
"Hey… Need help with that?" He looked at her trough the open window behind the counter, tilting his head.  
She looked up, frosting already smeared on her face. "I .. Sure."

* * *

Somewhere on the other side of the world, a large, Russian man frowned, fingering on his beard. A buzzing sound behind him announced the Tooth Fairy as she approached, landed and placed a hand on his "NICE" arm.  
"Is this .. Is this going to be allright Frost?"  
"I don't know Tooth. I don't know."  
The echo of a laughter shared in a small town bakery shop sounded trough the warm hall.


End file.
